Saved By The Pepper
by crazytomboy78
Summary: Pepper has found out Titanium Man's secret identity, making her Tony's hero once more. One-shot, request from Finny-Kun Goddess. Don't shoot me if this summary is bad...ik it is... -.-


Pepper sighed in extreme boredom as she laid out on the couch in her apartment, staring at her phone, waiting for it to go off. She was expecting a text from Tony any minute, asking if she wanted to hang out with them for the night. He usually texted the same request around the same time every Friday night. She'd gone home after school to get a project finished for class Monday, but she'd finished it surprisingly early and had been sitting on the couch, watching TV for at least an hour now, out of extreme boredom.

When she finally got the text, she responded with a 'sure' and rushed out to the street to walk over to the Rhodes' house.

On her way over, however, she overheard a loud crash around the corner, followed by loud metallic booming footsteps. Pepper hastily hid in the ally nearby, waiting for whatever was coming.

"Be careful with that armor, you nincompoop! That is expensive Hammer Multinational technology; if you damage it it's coming out on your paycheck!" A voice, which seemed extremely like the voice of Justin Hammer, boomed. Pepper poked her head around the corner to see Justin Hammer with a few of his security guards lugging the Titanium Man armor around the block. But why were they lugging it? Pepper wondered.

"We're trying, sir, but the Titanium Man armor isn't the easiest thing to drag down the street. It's not exactly the size of the sidewalk." One of the security guards snapped back.

"Well just hurry up, we need to get into that alley to suit up before someone sees us." Hammer demanded. Pepper realized that the mentioned ally was the one she'd been hiding in, so she ran farther down it and hid behind a dumpster. What was really on her mind was why they were dragging Titanium Man down the street, and why Hammer was talking about suiting up. Something was seriously wrong here.

"Why are we dragging it down the street anyways? Weren't you bringing the armor to the Stark International building so it can be worked on in their larger basement lab?" The security guard asked.

"Because, the stupid Maggia tried to rob us when they heard that we were transporting the armor!" Hammer barked.

"Alright, sorry, I was called in after it happened, no one told me. Don't have a cow." The security guard said in defense. They finally made it into the alley, and having heard their conversation, Pepper quickly whipped out her phone, opened her camera app and started recording a video.

She had to slap her hand over her mouth when she watched Hammer step inside the Titanium Man armor, grab his security guards and fly off towards the Stark International building. Boy, did she have good news for Tony.

Once they were gone, Pepper clicked 'end' on her phone and bolted towards Rhodey's house.

~…~

Over at the Rhodes' house, Tony and Rhodey were sitting on the couch, surfing channels on TV when Pepper burst through the front door, creating noise and hype. (They had been doing their homework, but since first of all, senior year was over in another month and a half, so they didn't get much homework anyways, and second of all, Tony usually always finished his homework in the span of five minutes maximum, it didn't take long for them to finish it.)

"Guys, guys, you will NOT believe what I just saw!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Whoa, Pepper, calm down. What's up?" Tony asked.

"I was walking over here when Justin' Hammer and a few of his security guards were walking down the street with the Titanium Man armor!"

"Uhh, yeah…sure." Rhodey responded.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's why I took a video of it." Pepper said, getting out her phone and pulling up the video from the alley. She shoved the phone into Tony's hands and watched as he pressed play and began to watch, Rhodey hanging over the back of the couch chair Tony was sitting on.

Pepper watched as his facial expression changed from skeptical to shocked, causing a triumphant smile to form on her cheeks.

"Oh my god, this is evidence to get Hammer arrested! This…this is amazing, Pepper, how did you get this footage?" Tony asked, standing from his chair, completely shocked.

"I told you, I was just on my way over and they came down the street behind me! I hid in an alley, but they went there too, so I hid and got this!" Pepper explained.

"Pepper, do you realize that I can get Hammer fired with this?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I totally just saved Stark International for you!" Pepper said excitedly.

"Pepper, this is unbelievably awesome. I love you for this."

At that, the two silenced and blushed heavily. Rhodey rolled his eyes and decided to take Tony's phone to show his mother the video so they could arrange to go to Stark International tomorrow, so he could give Tony and Pepper some alone time.

"U-uhh, well, I don't think I can thank you enough for this. This is amazing, Pepper…" Tony said, in an attempt to break the ice.

"You know you owe me for this." Pepper said with a smirk.

"Oh, I know. I owe you big time for this." Tony responded. He honestly had no idea what he could possibly do to thank Pepper for what she's done for him. No other girl (not that he's had many female friends besides Whitney and Pepper) had ever done something quite so amazing for him as Pepper had just now.

Even when he looked in her bright, happy eyes he felt something weird. Like some sort of tingling feeling lingering in his stomach. Not the 'I'm going to throw up' feeling, but more of an 'I'm extremely nervous right now' feeling. And suddenly he remembered his earlier slip of the tongue; then he noticed his palms getting sweaty and his heart beating faster. Suddenly he didn't know what to say to her again.

And suddenly, Tony started slowly moving in closer to Pepper, until they were mere inches apart. Tony was about to close the gap when Rhodey came in with his mom, causing them to back up quickly, rosy red blushes forming quickly on their cheeks. Tony tried to sit down on the couch, but he was so nervous that he misjudged where he was going and fell on the floor. Pepper giggled at him as he stood, rubbing the spot that hit the floor when he fell.

"Tony, this is amazing! We can go to Stark International as soon as possible tomorrow morning!" Roberta exclaimed, handing Pepper's phone back to her. She noticed the blush present on Tony's and Pepper's faces, and knew she had just disrupted a moment they'd been having.

"Y-yeah, it's amazing. Pepper found this on her way over. I might actually get Stark International back. Even if I don't, the board will see how well Stark Solutions is doing and will regret selling out to Hammer and will want me back." Tony explained happily. He saw a hopeful future ahead, and he knew it was all thanks to Pepper. His best friend had just saved his company. Then he got an idea.

After Roberta went back to filing some paperwork and Rhodey had sat down to surf channels again, Tony grabbed Pepper's arm and dragged her outside and to the old, destroyed compound by the Rhodes house.

"Tony, why are we going to the old armory?" She asked with a happy smile.

"Because I'm going to thank you!" Tony explained, shouting over his shoulder. Pepper shrugged and decided to just go along with it.

Once they got to the door to the old armory, Tony pushed it open with all his strength and they hopped inside the old armory. Tony sighed and stood in the middle, looking around.

"Alright, alright, let's get on with this. How are you going to thank me?" She asked.

"Alright, I haven't told anyone this, not even Rhodey. If I did he'd make fun of me." Tony explained.

"Sometimes I come down here and reminisce about the old armory. Sometimes I actually miss it. It was my first armory, you know?" Tony explained.

"Oh my god, are you saying that Tony Stark, _the _Tony Stark, is actually somewhat sentimental?" Pepper asked, very impressed.

"Yeah, believe it or not, I can be emotional." Tony answered.

"Wow. I'm impressed."

"I knew you would be."

"Well, I think that's thanks enough. Who knew Tony Stark had emotions.

"Hey, I'm in love with you, aren't I? That's emotion too." Tony blurted. The two silenced and froze once again. It seemed Tony had an incredible inability to shut his mouth lately…

"W-what?" Pepper asked.

"U-uhh…w-well, I…" Tony started. There was a long, awkward silence between them. Somehow, by accident he could tell her he loves her, but on purpose, forget it. So instead, he moved in and kissed her suddenly. Pepper was surprised at first, but after a moment she got over her shock and kissed her back. A spark of electricity ran through both of them in that moment, creating a feeling that Tony had never felt before. It was strange and foreign to him, but he didn't mind it. He liked the feeling.

Once they were starting to get deprived of air, they separated, staying silent while they gazed deeply into each other's eyes.

"Hey Pep?" Tony chimed, breaking the ice.

"Yeah?" Pepper answered with a smile.

"I love you."

"I know." Pepper said as she moved in and kissed him some more. It was a happy ending to a good day.

**Okay, yeah, the ending was a bit corny. This was a request from Finny-Kun Goddess, as part of my 150 story celebration. She requested that I do a one-shot about Pepper saving Stark International, and this is what came out. I hope it was what you wanted, Finny! I added my own little part to it to make it a bit longer. In case there's confusion, I'm not following this story up with another chapter. Review?**


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